Toshiba docks into new Multimedia Center for notebooks

We are all familiar with racks of separates in a Hi-Fi system and Toshiba is borrowing the concept to help expand the capabilities of notebooks running Windows XP or 2000. The Multimedia Center for notebooks comprises four stackable modules: an audio/USB hub, Giga Store mass storage, analogue/digital TV and radio tuner and wireless home hot spot. Apart from the audio/USB 'base station', different modules can be added to the stack according to needs and budget. ...more

Canadian abandons copy tax on digital music players

Canada's Supreme Court has upheld a lower court's ruling that a levy on digital music players may no longer be collected. The levy, which ranged from $2 for small devices to $25 for players with a capacity of 10GB or more, was collected by the Canadian Private Copying Collective (CPCC), on behalf of musicians and record labels. It was designed to compensate them for monies allegedly lost due to unauthorised file sharing. ...more

Windows XP delivery date

The date has been decided, the marketing midwives have been put-in position, so it's official - 25 October will see the delivery of Windows XP to the world. Running on a Windows 2000 code base, the newest Microsoft operating system overhauls the familiar Windows look in favour of Web browser style interface. Microsoft, of course, is trumpeting the release as establishing a "new standard in power, reliability, security and simplicity". ...more

Nanotechnology, in guitar form

You would think that nanotechnology and nanoengineering borders on the realms of science fiction, but news has broken of Cornell University creating a guitar the size of a human blood cell. The tiny guitar features six tiny strings, each measuring 50 nanometers wide - about the size of 100 medium-sized atoms side by side. The guitar's body is made out of crystalline silicon rather than wood and was carved by a high-voltage beam of electrons. ...more

BBC digs deeper into its archives

The BBC has opened up yet more of its archive material this week. For teachers, the BBC has launched the Open Schools Archive. Content here is divided into six categories, covering geography, history, nature, politics, places and audio resources. ...more